Various types of holder devices are used in combination with printed circuit boards. Such holder devices usually are employed to retain hybrid modules, circuit cards or boards or the like, and to support them perpendicularly on a printed circuit board. The hybrid modules include projecting terminal flags or spades which can be soldered or otherwise connected to the printed circuit board.
One type of holder (see, for example, German Patent Disclosure Document DE-OS No. 28 06 558) utilizes a housing which is open at one side, and from which the terminal flags or spades of the hybrid module project. The side edges of the modules, and extending at right angles to the connecting combs are guided in grooves formed at the inside of the housing. The housing is attached to the printed circuit board (PCB) by rivets.
This arrangement holds the module in position, but has the disadvantage or requiring a fair amount of material and assembly labor. The housing essentially is closed all around and such a closed housing is used to hold, for example, only a single hybrid module on the PCB. Introducing the module into the housing, and attachment of the housing by riveting on the printed circuit board, requires skilled work which is time-consuming. The terminal spades or lugs which extend from the module project from the housing in advance of assembly of the housing and the module, which easily leads to damage by bending the spades, and then difficulty and special hand work to attach the module to the circuit board. Some terminal lugs or spades may even break, and if such breakage is not discovered prior to assembly, results in expensive rejects.
Another type of holder has been proposed in which a cover plate is used spanning over the upper side of the hybrid module. Two side walls extend from the top cover plate, formed with guide grooves. A terminal wall forming a stop also projects from the cover plate. The guide grooves do not extend over the entire length of the side walls but only over a region which corresponds to the height of respective modules. Since the guide grooves correspond in length to the modules, relative movement of the modules parallel to the cover plate of the holder is prevented.
To assemble a module in the holder, the hybrid plate is first located on the side walls, parallel to the end plate. Then the module is pressed in the direction of the cover plate until the side edges of the module engage in the guide grooves of the side walls. This way of attachment is complex, labor-intensive, and requires skilled work. The pressure with which the hybrid plate is pressed into the holder can be considerable and some modules are damaged or even destroyed upon application of the engagement pressure. Prior to assembly of the holder on the printed circuit board, the contact pins of the connecting comb, that is, the connecting lugs or spades, project from the holder, which can lead to their being bent or broken.